The Uncle Speaks in the Drawing Room (Leaving Cert English): Flashcards
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Practise the cards
20 cards from this deck
Literary technique used in this poem
Literary technique used in this poem
Dramatic monologue
What the uncle represents
What the uncle represents
Established elite - comfortable, entitled, threatened
Main purpose of the poem
Main purpose of the poem
Critique of how upper classes respond to social justice
What privilege creates in the poem
What privilege creates in the poem
Moral blindness
Three symbols of inherited wealth
Three symbols of inherited wealth
Crystal vase, chandelier, antique ruby bowl
What glass imagery represents
What glass imagery represents
Beauty and value, but also fragility
Uncle's loaded words for protestors (3 examples)
Uncle's loaded words for protestors (3 examples)
Mob, sullen, bitter
Are protestors' voices heard in the poem?
Are protestors' voices heard in the poem?
No, they remain silent/absent
Uncle's language style
Uncle's language style
Formal and elevated diction
Technique Rich uses to expose uncle's flaws
Technique Rich uses to expose uncle's flaws
Irony
Dramatic monologue definition
Dramatic monologue definition
Single character speaks, reveals more than they intend
Who the uncle represents
Who the uncle represents
Established elite, privileged older gentleman
Who the protestors represent
Who the protestors represent
Younger generation, disenfranchised, working class
Crystal vase & chandelier symbolise
Crystal vase & chandelier symbolise
Inherited wealth and refined living
'Our kind' reveals
'Our kind' reveals
Class division based on wealth, breeding, inheritance
'Dead glass-blowers' refers to
'Dead glass-blowers' refers to
Craftsmen of past; culture already gone/in the past
Glass imagery represents
Glass imagery represents
Beauty & value, but also fragility of upper class world
How privilege affects the uncle
How privilege affects the uncle
Creates moral blindness, can't see legitimate grievances
Why protestors don't speak in poem
Why protestors don't speak in poem
Shows power monopolises discourse, excludes marginalised
'We stand between' irony
'We stand between' irony
Uncle thinks heroic but actually trapped, nowhere to go